Coverage and analysis of the alternative energy sector and its constituent companies. I believe that alternative energy will play a large role in the formation of a "greener" economy. And, this sector may be the engine that propels a long bull market. In addition, I will post items of interest along the way that pertain to green technology.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Old batteries converted into oil and electricity

W2 Energy's motto: Garbage is a renewable resource

File this joint venture under: We Use Every Part of the Pig but the Squeal. Not literally, of course, but that's close to the results of an arrangement between battery recycler Toxco and W2 Energy, a developer of mass-to-energy technology. I like W2 Energy for its ingenuity and scrappy, start-up enthusiasm.

W2 Energy will process 600 tons of carbon cake and plastic generated at Toxco's British Columbia recycling plant and convert it into electricity and ultra low sulfur diesel... on a 45-foot tractor trailer bed brought to the site... using a plasmatron and even an algae bioreactor. (Composite photo above shows some of these components.) It sounds like an unlikely engineering contraption, but it's an idea designed to make a profit out of waste. And there sure is plenty of raw material around in our society for them to convert into oil, electricity and dollar bills.

Toxco strips the metal out of old batteries and sells it, but, to this point, has sent the shredded battery cases to the landfill. Until W2 Energy came up with its "win/win proposition," according to Kathy Bruce, vice president of Toxco Canada.

In short, W2 Energy's mass-to-energy plant converts the hydrogen, oxygen and carbon in the battery waste into electricity and liquid fuel that can be used by Toxco. Carbon and nitrogen oxides normally generated by combusting the waste will be captured in W2 Energy's Sunfilter bioreactor where algae will grow on the flue gases. The algae is then put through the same process as the battery waste ad turned into more fuel and electricity. For a look at the complete process, go to the flow chart on their web site.

As long as there's garbage, W2 Energy will keep generating energy and fuel. The company claims the following feedstocks can be converted with its technology:

coal,

municipal solid waste,

agricultural waste,

human and animal waste,

tires and plastics, and

medical waste.

The feedstocks are converted into syngas, using patented low temperature, non-thermal, plasma-based reactor technology. That mouthful allows the mass-to-energy plant to run at a low cost and turn a profit, according to company's web site. In addition, the company claims that its technology is modular and scaleable, and that up to 10,000 tons per day of any hydrocarbon feedstock can be processed.

Finance Info

W2 Energy, Inc., (PINKSHEETS: WTWO), is incorporated in Nevada and trades on OTC. It employs 10 people and has an estimated market cap of $1.871 million as of Oct. 21, 2009. On Oct. 22, common stock as trading between $0.0153 and $0.0164. The stock has a 52-week low of $0.0016 and a 52-week high of $0.046. The high came in early August 2009, after W2 Energy announced completion of the second phase of a licensing Agreement with Alpha Renewable Energy of India, and that the company had successfully completed a commercial scale algae bioreactor. In recent months, the stock price has traded in the $0.015 to $0.20 range.

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I have over 30 years of experience as a freelance writer. And now, time for what I want to do. You can see my full resume and a link to writing samples at my LinkedIn profile at www.linkedin.com/in/artswriter